Paws on a Different Path
by SairentoNeko
Summary: What would happen if Spottedleaf became a Warrior instead of a Medicine Cat? Would Spottedleaf and Fireheart finally become mates? Find out about the romance of Spottedleaf and Firestar!
1. A Warrior Ceremony

A/N it has been a while since I have read Warriors... I am sorry if some things are wrong

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or claim ownership

* * *

Spottedpaw stood proudly as she was being made a warrior. She scans the audience and finds Firepaw and blushes inwardly. Ever since Spottedpaw was a kit she had been in love with Firepaw. Bluestar turns to the three apprentices "Do you promise to accept the Warrior Code? To honor and defend it even at the cost of your life?" The three apprentices dip their head "I do" they say in unison. "Then by the power of Starclan I give you your warrior names" The excited apprentices eyes lit up.

"Redpaw from now on you will be called Redtail, Thunderclan admires your courage and leadership skills. You will make a fine warrior. Willowpaw from now on you will be called Willowpelt, Thunderclan admires your courage and strength. You will make Thunderclan proud. Spottedpaw from now you will be called Spottedleaf, Thunderclan admires your courage and kindness. You are very much like a Medicine Cat or Queen" Spottedleaf blushes at these words.

"May your paws be on the right path" Bluestar says before jumping off the highrock and running into the den. The clan breaks up to congratulate the three new warriors. Firepaw trots up to Spottedleaf. "Hey congratulations on becoming a warrior Spottedleaf" the ginger tom says, smiling. "Thank you" Spottedleaf says trying to hide her blush. "Welcome" Firepaw walks away. Spottedleaf feels her heart flutter as she watches the tom. Oh Firepaw, She thinks, You have no idea how you make me feel.


	2. After the Warriors vigil

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or claim ownership

* * *

It was dawn the next morning and the three new Warriors were silently sitting vigil. Anycat could see the shining in the new Warrior's eyes. Spottedleaf scented Bluestar before her head popped out of the leaders' den. Bluestar trots up to the three Warriors and stands before them. "Get some sleep you three, If you don't you will be too exhausted to do your tasks!" The blue-gray cat says. Redtail and Willowpelt nod tiredly and walk into the Warriors' den. Spottedleaf however runs into the den as if she had all the energy in the world. Bluestar gives a little _mrrow _ of laughter at the tortoiseshell ball of energy and walks off to go hunting.

"Hey wake up!" a small prod in Spottedleaf's side from a paw woke her from her slumber. "wha?" Spottedleaf looks at the small ginger apprentice prodding her. Soon her blurry vision recognizes who it was. "Firepaw! What are you doing here?" the groggy Warrior asks. "You were called along on a hunting patrol along with Redtail and Me" Spottedleaf's eyes light in excitement. _My first hunting patrol as a warrior, and I'm with Firepaw!_

Spottedleaf clambered out of her nest following the flame colored apprentice. The tortoiseshell warrior slides out after the apprentice. Spottedleaf squints against the bright sunhigh light she is greeted with. When her eyes clear up, Spottedleaf takes in the warm scents of Newleaf prey. "Hey Spottedleaf, ready to go hunting?" her littermate asks. "yes im ready!" Spottedleaf says joining the hunting patrol consisting of Redtail, Firepaw, Bluestar and Graypaw. _May our hunting be good and swift._


	3. The hunt

A/N: "_the compliments make me so happy!"_ so please review :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or claim ownership

* * *

Bluestar lead the hunting patrol with the other four cats at her heels. "I bet we will catch a lot of prey today!" Graypaw mews excitedly. "I'm sure we will!" replies an equally excited Firepaw. Bluestar lets out a little laugh, Apprentices could be so amusing sometimes! "Hey who are you laughing at?!" Firepaw meows indignantly. "You and Graypaw!" Bluestar purrs amusement lighting her eyes. "Oh do you want to have something to laugh at?!" Firepaw says getting ready to start a play fight with his mentor. Firepaw gathers all the strength in his legs before leaping at Bluestar. Bluestar easily dodges Firepaw's attack and swats at him with sheathed claws. Firepaw growls and tries to leap again but misses once again.

Spottedleaf watches the interaction between Bluestar and Firepaw with growing annoyance and jealousy. _What do you think you are doing,Firepaw? You are supposed to play fight with me and only me!_ Spottedleaf realizes what she was just thinking and her face becomes red. "We should keep going, prey won't catch itself!" Bluestar meows standing straight up and leading the group again "However it was nice to be able to mess around again!" Spottedleaf sighs quietly in relief. Firepaw falls behind to walk with Spottedleaf. "That was so fun!" the flame apprentice says. Firepaw's words make her want to hiss but she stops herself.

"Hey I smell prey!" both apprentices say in unison. "Good job!" the leader praises the young cats. The five cats split up to pursue different pieces of prey. Firepaw and Graypaw ran in the same direction so that the best friends could hunt prey in the same general area. Spottedleaf smells a mouse and she turns her head to see where it was. The mouse was stuffing a nut into its mouth, it was downwind of Spottedleaf. Spottedleaf automatically drops into a hunters' crouch and begins stalking the mouse silently. Spottedleaf gathers all the strength in her hind legs before pouncing. The mouse is brought down with a swift bite to the neck.

Spottedleaf had just caught the mouse when she detected another piece of prey. _I can already see that hunting will be really good today._ Spottedleaf tries to imagine all the prey her patrol would catch and all the hungry bellies it would fill. Spottedleaf drops back into a crouch and begins stalking again. Spottedleaf steps on a twig and it alerts the squirrel she was hunting. _Mouse dung!_ Spottedleaf watches as the squirrel heads for a tree with unhappiness. Spottedleaf turned around to find another piece of prey but turned around again when she heard the words "Spottedleaf catch it!" Firepaw was chasing the squirrel back to her! Spottedleaf unsheathed her claws and brought down the squirrel. "Thanks Firepaw, I thought I wouldn't catch it!" Firepaw's eyes light up.

Spottedleaf headed home from the hunt with two mice and two squirrels. She felt proud of her catch and when she entered the camp she got compliments from other warriors. "You just became a warrior and look at what you can already do!" Swiftbreeze, her mother, says. Spottedleaf feels her face flush with embarrassment and pride. _The compliments make me feel so happy! _Firepaw trots up to Spottedleaf "Hey good catch today!" Spottedleaf feels her heart flutter for the second time because of Firepaw. _I want to tell you how I feel but I just can't! What if you reject me? What if you don't feel the same?! How would I live with myself?! _Spottedleaf feels like she's dying inside and wanted to cry. But Firepaw not knowing the fact that Spottedleaf was in love with him gave a smile and put his own prey on the fresh kill pile. Spottedleaf took a piece of prey for herself and took small, unhappy bites.


	4. A Border Skirmish

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. However I do own Kimie, Heather and Robin

* * *

"Hey do you want to go out on a patrol again? A border patrol this time" Longtail asks Spottedleaf "Yeah, who's going with us?" Spottedleaf asks "I don't know…" Longtail replies "Does anycat want to go on patrol with me and Spottedleaf?!" "I DO!" Firepaw shoots up on his paws "I WANNA GO WITH YOU!" "Alright you can go" Longtail says rubbing his head because of the loud apprentice "Just please don't yell anymore" Firepaw nods and looks into Spottedleaf's eyes then turns back quickly "I just really wanted to go" Spottedleaf snorts in amusement.

_Wow! Two patrols in one day! If I go out again I'm going to pass out! Or fall asleep on my paws._ The three cats headed toward the Shadowclan border. We will make sure those Shadowclan frogs keep their paws off our territory! Those prey-stealers! Spottedleaf growls just thinking of the cats on the other side of the border. The three cats renew the scent markers to make sure they are strong. Spottedleaf pays extra close attention to the scents to make sure no cat has crossed the border. Spottedleaf notices the scent of other cats, and to her dismay it was the scent of rogues.

"Longtail! Firepaw! Some rogue cats have-" Spottedleaf's sentence was interrupted by a hiss. The three patrol cats turned their heads to see a silver she-cat with blue eyes. Behind the silver cat were two more intruding cats. One cat was light brown with a white slash on her chest and blue eyes. The other cat was young and had dark ginger, black and white fur with yellow eyes. "We just want to hunt prey so leave us alone!" The silver cat said. "Who are you!? Why are you here?!" Spottedleaf asks the silver cat. "Must I tell you our names?" the silver cat sighs "My name's Kimie and these two are Heather and Robin. Also I have already told you what we came for! Prey!" "Well you will not get any!" Spottedleaf hisses. Kimie smirks "Then we will take it by FORCE!"

The patrol's eyes widen as they prepare to go into battle. Kimie begins the attack by leaping at Longtail. Robin lunges at Firepaw and Heather charges at Spottedleaf. Spottedleaf slashes at Heather's soft underbelly but she misses and is put at a position in which her enemy takes the opportunity to slash at her shoulder. A wound is ripped open on Spottedleaf's shoulder and it begins gushing blood. Spottedleaf ignores the wound and continues to fight. Spottedleaf rears up and Heather steps back. Quickly Heather leaps at Spottedleaf and pins her down._ For a rogue she fights really well!_ Heather delivers a shallow wound to Spottedleaf's belly before stepping back. "Let's go you two we can hunt somewhere else! We may have won this battle, but more cats may come to help these ones… May you never forget our names!" Kimie says running away with her tail high in the air. The rogues had won the battle.

"Let's head back home, We need to report this to Bluestar!" Longtail meows. Spottedleaf and Firepaw stiffly stand up and lick some of the blood on their pelts. Both cats turn to Longtail and the cat begins to lead the way back to camp. "I smell blood!" Sandpaw the medicine cat apprentice says "My mentor is out, I'll go get herbs to treat you!" "What happened!?" Bluestar asks from the Highrock. "Just a border skirmish with a couple of rogues" Longtail replies. "More patrols will go out and keep watch" Bluestar says. Sandpaw comes back with Dandelion, Dock and Marigold. Sandpaw made poultices with the Dock and Marigold and gave the Dock to be chewed to ease the pain. Though still wounded the three cats felt much better once Sandpaw had treated them.


	5. Sandpaw comes to train

Looked longer on note...

Disclaimer: I don't own warriors

* * *

Spottedleaf laid down in the nest in the medicine cats den. Featherwhisker had the three cats on the patrol from earlier stay in his den. Longtail and Firepaw were released but were not going to do patrols for a while. Spottedleaf however couldn't even leave the den for a week, Featherwhisker feared that if he let the tortoiseshell she-cat go her wound would open up was extremely bored.  
"Hi Firepaw!" Sandpaw says running up to him. "How are your wounds?" The light ginger she-cat asks. "Im fine" Firepaw meows. "Good because I wanted to train with you!" Sandpaw purrs. "Huh? But your a medicine cat!" Firepaw says surprised. "Everycat needs to protect itself, Medicine Cats don't battle but we still have training!" Sandpaw explains. "Makes sense" Firepaw says with a bored look on his face.  
"Hey you two!" Say Ravenpaw and Graypaw in unison "Can we train with you also?" "Yes of course you can!" Firepaw says to his best friends. Sandpaw hisses quietly. I wanted to train with him! Me! Me only!  
"What were you doing yesterday in training?" Sandpaw asks. "Oh this!" Firepaw demonstrates a difficult move in which he had to leap in the air with a twist, slash his paw down then land on all fours. "I tried to use this move on Robin..." Firepaw says trailing off "Who's Robin?" "Nevermind..."  
The four apprentices got busy training. At Moonhigh the apprentices finally stopped. "Its pretty late" Ravenpaw said surprised "But you did really well, Sandpaw!" He purrs. He was right, Sandpaw mastered every move they tried that day. Firepaw nods in approval"Let's do this again tomorrow!" They all agree and walk off to their dens.


	6. The mysterious Kimie

Disclaimer: I do not own warriors or claim ownership but i do own Kimie her friends and siblings and BlizzardClan is my fan/made up clan

* * *

It had been two weeks since the border skirmish and Spottedleaf and Firepaw went out to check for the rogues. Spottedleaf let out an annoyed hiss when Kimie's scent was fresh. I already know they can fight well so we may end up in a better position Spottedleaf thought. Kimie appeared from the bushes. Spottedleaf dropped into a hunters' crouch and unsheathed her claws. Kimie pushed a fluffy dark gray thing behind her back. "We came here to apologize" The silver cat says.  
"Prove it! Step foward" Spottedleaf says standing up straight. Kimie cautiously steps forward until she was in front of Spottedleaf. She really did come to apologize! I can't smell any prey on her fur the tortoiseshell cat thought. But what was that gray fluffy thing she pushed behind her?  
"Fine apology accepted" Spottedleaf says flatly. "Thank you" Kimie says dipping her head. Just then two dark gray kittens ran from behind Kimie. "Kits!" Firepaw purred. "Are they yours?" Spottedleaf asks. "No i'm just watching them. These are my younger sisters Jade and Neri" Spottedleaf nods.  
"Is there something else you need?" Spottedleaf asks when Kimie didn't leave right away. "I just want to say I didn't realize you were part of a clan like me when we first met" "your part of a clan?!" Spottedleaf says in surprise."Yes a far away clan BlizzardClan and my friends are too. Robin is RobinPaw Heather is Heatherflower and Jade is Jadekit but i'm not with my clan much anymore" Spottedleaf wanted to ask why but refrained.  
"I won't trespass again" Kimie says leading the kits away. Kimie, the kits and her friends were never seen again.


	7. Fued

disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.

Wrenpaw is Firepaw's sister, Princess

* * *

Bluestar called her clan for a meeting. _I wonder what's going on?___Spottedleaf thought. "four new warriors are among the clan today, Graypaw, Firepaw, Ravenpaw, Wrenpaw please step up" Spottedleaf watched the apprentices with shining eyes. _I'm so proud of Firepaw!_ "do you promise to uphold the warrior code? To defend and honor it even at the cost of your life?" Bluestar asked a serious look on her face. "I do" the apprentices mewed in unison. "then by the power of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Graypaw, I name you Graystripe,ThunderClan honors your strength and your compassion. Firepaw ,I give you the name Fireheart ,ThunderClan honors your courage and strength in battle. Ravenpaw, I give you the name Ravenstrike, Thunderclan honors your compassion and your sympathy for the other side in battle. Wrenpaw, I name you Wrendance, Thunderclan honors the love and compassion you bring to the clan. May Starclan light your path!" Bluestar's last words were a yowl. The blue-gray she-cat jumped down and ran into her den.

The clan yowled out the warriors names happily. Spottedleaf broke away from the crowd but was stopped by another cat. "You!" the cat hissed Spottedleaf saw the cat was Sandpaw. Sandpaw had a really angry look on her face. "You stay away from my Fireheart! I know I'm a medicine cat it's the path I chose, but I'm in love with him and no other she-cat will have him" Spottedleaf's shocked look turned to pure anger and she lashed her tail "Stupid Sandpaw! If you want him so badly you shouldn't have become a medicine cat!" "I didn't know that you could want a cat so much with every fur on your pelt…" Sanpaw admitted "But, when you fell for Fireheart, you picked a fight with me! This is not over"

Spottedleaf stood in the clearing still very heated from her conversation with Sandpaw. Spottedleaf decided she would go take a walk to cool herself down. _I can't believe Sandpaw, She's so awful! _Spottedleaf hissed inwardly to herself. _Why can't me and Sandpaw be friends? Even if Firepaw chose her we would still be enemies. We are always going to fight_ _no matter what. _She sighed and looked towards the sky "Starclan end our feud!" Spottedleaf mewed to the sky "I don't want to fight with a Clanmate!" The tortoiseshell she-cat turned head to the ground _I guess I'll go home now._

Spottedleaf padded confidently in camp. She noticed Sanpaw sitting outside the medicine cats den and turned her back. She headed toward the fresh kill pile and picked off a mouse and began eating. When Spottedleaf walked across heartbeats before, Sandpaw ran into the den. _Why did I yell at Spottedleaf? _ She thought tears streaming down her face. _I didn't mean to be so cruel! Love makes you do crazy things you never thought you would do. Love makes you become who you never wanted to become. But even if I could have him I would break the medicine cat code! Why does it have to be so complicated?_

Featherwhisker sat in his nest across from Sandpaw. He was vaguely aware that his apprentice was in love with the new warrior, Fireheart. Featherwhisker knew Sandpaw would be having an inner conflict, and a lot of stress. Sandpaw was aware of the consequences that would come by having Fireheart as a mate, so why try? Featherwhisker realized that since he never could have a mate he would never feel the thrill of another cat who wasn't kin love you. He knew that for love a cat would meet at the edge of a territory, nose tipped toward the sky and ears pricked for other cats.


End file.
